thumb|Alberto Korda: Che Guevara, [[Guerrillero Heroico, March 5, 1960.]]

Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez (September 14, 1928 – May 25, 2001), better known as Alberto Korda or simply Korda, was a Cuban photographer, remembered for his famous image Guerrillero Heroico of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

Early life

Korda, whose real name was Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, was born on September 14, 1928, in Havana, Cuba. He got his first taste of photography when he took his father's Kodak 35mm and began taking pictures of his girlfriend. Korda was the son of a railway worker, and took many jobs before beginning as a photographer's assistant. Korda began his career as a photographer who shot pictures at banquets, baptisms and weddings. He would run back to his studio to develop the film, then return to the event and sell his photographs as souvenirs. The quality of Korda's work as a beginner was very poor; after a few months the image became blurry and the paper yellowed. When he opened his first studio, Korda had an opportunity to learn from his mistakes and to stop the yellowing process by using the right chemicals for the correct durations of time. In 1956 he founded the Havana photography studio Korda Studios with Luis Antonio Peirce Byers. The name of the company came from the famous Hungarian-British film directors Alexander and Zoltan Korda, and both photographers came to be known by the name: Luis was known as Korda the Elder (Luis Korda) and Alberto as Korda the Younger. Initially, the Kordas took a variety of jobs ranging from fashion to advertisements. In the early years, Korda was most interested in fashion because it allowed him to pursue his two favorite things, photography and beautiful women.

Korda disliked artificial lighting; he said it was "a travesty of reality" and only used natural light in his studio. He was master of black-and-white photography who looked for perfect composition and framing. Korda had unique creative ambition that he used to rise above in style when compared to the unimaginative cultural perspective of traditional Cuban photography. This unique creativity turned the Korda Studio into something more than just a prosperous business; it became an art studio. However, he told a BBC World Service reporter that he did approve of the 1999 Che Jesus adaptation of the image used by the Churches Advertising Network to promote church attendance in the UK. The truth is that Korda gave the picture for free to Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, an Italian publisher who had published Doctor Zhivago and went on to publish Castro's diaries.

After the revolution, Korda became Fidel Castro's personal photographer for 10 years, accompanying Castro on trips and in meetings with foreign personalities. During this time he also took pictures of demonstrations, sugar cane harvests and factory scenes. for a million dollars over the use of Korda's famous photo of Che "Guerrillero Heroico" in Labruce's movie The Raspberry Reich.

In an interview from 2018 the Canadian filmmaker talked about the lawsuit:

<blockquote><p>It played at over a hundred film festivals and was on its way to becoming a cult hit when, about six months into my tour with the film, Jurgen and I got hit with a million dollar (Canadian) lawsuit for copyright infringement by the Korda estate.</p>

<p>The lawsuit was launched in France, which has some of the toughest copyright laws in the world, but the sixty-page court document was delivered to my door in Toronto by a local sheriff, so it was pretty heavy. We got a famous gay French lawyer, Emmanuel Pierrat, to defend us, but we technically lost. The damages were reduced to about €8,000, but we had to cover the court costs, so we ended up having to pay about €30,000 (the budget of the film was about 60,000!), effectively erasing all our profits from the film.</p>

<p>'The film is a critique of radical chic and both a critique and celebration of the radical left, but it is obviously anti-capitalist, so the irony of being scuttled by Che and Korda over copyright was bitter.</p>

<p>They argued mostly that we "demeaned" and "defiled" the image of Che, although I didn't really intend having a hot porn star jerk off on a blow-up of the Che image to be demeaning at all – more of an homage, really. I just figured everyone else in the world was jerking off to the image, so I might as well show it literally.</p>

<p>The film's slogans, particularly "The Revolution is My Boyfriend," started to be widely quoted online and on t-shirts and banners, neatly mirroring the radical chic critiqued in the movie.</p></blockquote>

Excerpt from Make Porn, Not War: An Interview With Bruce LaBruce.

Notable photos by Korda

  • La Niña de la Muñeca de Palo (1958)
  • Entrada de Fidel a La Habana (1959)
  • El Quijote de la farola (1959)
  • Fidel in Washington (1959)
  • Guerrillero Heroico (1960)
  • Miliciana (1962)

Exhibitions

thumb|In March 2010, an original proof of this 1960 Korda photo of [[Che Guevara fishing with Fidel Castro, sold at auction for £ 6,600.]]

Solo exhibitions of his works have been held in Helsinki, Finland, 1962; the Galleria H. Diafragma Canon, Milan, Italy, 1985; Galería Servando Cabrera, Havana, 1986; Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, 2000; COEX, Seoul, Korea, 2011.

Group exhibitions of his works include: in 1962, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana; 1967, Expo'67, Pabellón Cubano, Montreal; 1980, Consejo Mexicano de Fotografía, Mexico City; 1980, Centro de Arte Internacional, Havana; 1983, Westbeth Gallery, New York; 1999, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana; 2000, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland; 2000, Royal National Theatre, London; 2002, Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Awards

He was awarded the Cuban "Palma de Plata" in 1959; named Best Photoreporter of the year, Revolución Journal, Havana, 1960–1963; awarded the 5th International Award of Submarine Photografie "Maurizio Sana," Italy; awarded National Culture Distinction, Ministry of Culture, Cuba; 1994.

Collections

His works are in the collections of Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba; Center for Cuban Studies, New York, NY; Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione, Parma University, Parma, Italy; Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba; Galleria IF, Milan, Italy; Galleria Il Diafragma Kodak, Milan, Italy; Maison de la Culture de la Seine Saint-Denis, Paris, France; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba.

References

  • Alberto Korda, by Bill Lasarow
  • BBC: News report on Korda's death
  • BBC: "Guevara's Image Saved from Drink", September 15, 2000
  • Frontline:
  • Guerrillero Heroico – A discussion on Korda's best-known photograph
  • The story of Korda's Che Guevara Image
  • Korda's Che Guevara Image. Che Guevara aniverary in "La Patria Grande Caracas
  • Sun Sentinel: Exhibit: "Korda, Known. Unknown" now in Havana November 10, 2008
  • Washington Post: Cuba by Korda – Photo Collection
  • History of a portrait Articles on Alberto Korda picture of Che, taken March 5, 1960
  • Korda Photos of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara – slideshow by BBC News
  • Photos of early days of Cuban Revolution by Alerto Korda